Lacrymosa
by Just 2 Dream of You
Summary: One-shot set after Generations but before First Contact: When a mission goes wrong and Data is seemingly the only one to blame, he begins to learn what real guilt and remorse is like.


Disclaimer: I don't own TNG  
Title from Evanescence

* * *

Lacrymosa

X -x-x-x-x- X

'What's your status, Mr. Data?'

"I am ready to activate the environmental actuators, Captain."

'Proceed.'

"Yes, Sir."

The Enterprise E had been in space for a few months. Starfleet seemed to want the crew to become used to their new ship, since it was the top of the line, so for now they were getting things like diplomatic missions and archaeological missions. This was an archaeological mission and the first where Data could use his environmental actuators.

He had been to a convention after the Enterprise D was destroyed - all crew members got some shore leave while the E was being built - and saw that some new inventions for suits that could stand up to harsh weather and protect people from unbreathable air while on archaeological missions. He found that to be inefficient. A suit could hinder how you work, and not everyone had the luxury of being able to go down to any environment such as he could.

His brain began to work out a way to fix this problem and before he knew it he had invented the environmental actuators. They could be set up like transport pattern enhancers and inside the field they emitted they would provide an environment that was breathable and normal for humanoids. In just a few months Starfleet had tested them approximately fifty two times and each time they worked. Starfleet saw no problem with them and right when the E was being ready to go out, Data got word that as soon as possible, the Enterprise would take the actuators out on their official first try. Everyone was proud of him and congratulating him, and he couldn't help the feeling of pride that he had about it.

Funny. That was the first time he _had_ taken pride in his work. He was learning to become used to his new feelings that his emotion chip created. So far he hadn't had too many problems. He didn't like it when people were rude to him in any manor, it made him a little mad, and for some reason a movie from the twentieth century made him cry every time he saw it. He figured _It's a Wonderful Life_ should be watched around Christmas so he tried not to watch that so much. That all being said, he seemed to have integrated emotion quite well into his daily routine.

Now here he was, on Andora II, in a dark cave, with nothing but a palm beacon and a tricorder to aide him. He had scanned the area eighteen times, as well as forty seven times with the Enterprise sensors, and every time the same reading came up. High particles of carbon monoxide and a recently identified vaporous iron that was named deficide. No signs of life of any kind. In other words, this planet was barren and uninhabitable.

The cave he was in, however, contained rare metals and materials not found on too many other planets. Science officers on board were eager to get in this cave and Data thought now was a good time as any to use his actuators. Captain Picard agreed, since he was a bit proud of Data himself. Data beamed down alone, obviously since he was the only one who could survive down there, and set up his actuators around the cave. The area he had created was big enough and many crew members could move around easily within it.

He went up to one of the eight actuators that stood and activated it. In seconds they all lit up and a pocket of air was formed within the parameters. Not only did they create a breathable environment, but they provided light in this dark cave. That add on was last minute and Data knew it would be needed for some situations, such as this one.

He scanned the area with his tricorder and, sure enough, oxygen was formed. A little bit of carbon monoxide stayed, so the air wouldn't feel artificial to humans that breathed it, but for the most part it was oxygen. He stayed for a few minutes checking to see if they were all working, making sure there were no malfunctions or gaps in the field they created, letting hazardous air in.

While he was doing that he was able to take in the sheer beauty of this cave. The walls glimmered with a rainbow sheen and the floor of this cave looked like it was littered with diamonds. He found it nice that he could take in beauty and truly appreciate it now rather than just see it as it is.

He closed up his tricorder and hit his communicator. "Data to Enterprise."

'Go ahead, Data.' Captain Picard's voice rang.

"The actuators are operating at an efficiency of 99.8 percent. I believe I can modulate them to 99.9 percent and have them working within specified parameters, Captain."

Captain Picard couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. Sure, Data had grown through these past months, but all in all, he was still Data. "I see. Modulate them to where you want, deactivate them, and return to the Enterprise."

"Aye, Sir." Data began to work and Captain Picard's voice rang again.

'Other than the air, do you see any danger?'

Data shook his head. "No, Sir. There appears to be no life forms on this planet, let alone in this cave and I do not foresee any problems with the actuators. I believe the environment is safe, Sir."

* * *

"This is _so_ exciting!" Her long, curly, strawberry blond hair bounced with her as she jumped a little.

"Only you could think digging in the dirt is exciting." A brunette beside her chided.

"Oh, come on! We get to dig on an uninhabited planet without suits! Lt. Commander Data invented the things that will help us! This_ is _exciting!" She beamed from ear to ear and the brunette sighed and shook her head.

"You're always so enthusiastic about your work, Judy. And about a particular android..." She nudged her friend and the blond called Judy rolled her eyes.

"Stop it. You know that me and Ron are serious." She blushed. "He asked me to dinner tonight. He said that he had something important to talk to me about." They both squealed like little girls and the brunette jumped up and down.

"Oh, my God, Judy! Do you think he'll propose? After just a few months?"

Judy blushed harder. "Maybe..." She picked up a pad and began doing something with it.

"Is it weird dating your childhood best friend?" The brunette asked.

Judy sighed. "Me and Ron met when we were six...and we've only been dating for about four months...I don't think so. I've loved him since day one. It's meant to be." She sighed again and the brunette gave her a look. Judy looked back at her and the brunette laughed.

"Oh, brother!"

Data couldn't help but be a little excited about this. It was the actuators first try, if only for a simple soil sample. He had to go along with them to make sure that everything worked like it should. He knew that he couldn't go every time that they were used, but he should be there for their first mission. Kind of a parental way of seeing it. Interesting.

The doors to transporter room three opened and in stepped two young females. "Um." One of them said as she looked directly at him. She seemed scared and nervous and stopped in her tracks when she saw him. She stood for a few seconds and then changed her attitude completely. With a big smile she reached out her hand. "Lt. Judy Sculler. It's nice to meet you, Sir."

Data smiled politely and shook her hand. "It is nice to meet you too."

"And I'm Ensign Katherine Lerner." The brunette beside Lt. Sculler chimed. Data nodded and shook her hand as well.

"So, you invented the environmental actuators? That's great! It'll be so good to touch soil without a glove hindering me. You have no idea how annoying those suits can be! Thank you so much, I know this will help us immensely." She beamed at Data and if he were a flesh colored human his cheeks would be pink right now.

"...Thank you." He smiled a bit nervous and watched as others pilled into the room. Most were young ensigns. It would appear that Lt. Sculler was the commanding officer for this mission. Data was just observing. He nodded at each one and looked back at Lt. Sculler. "I need to go down first and activate them. Then you may all beam down." She nodded but looked puzzled at what was on his belt.

"Why do you have a phaser for an archaeological mission?"

Data looked down. "Oh. I have a phaser in case of emergency."

She blinked. "Why? Is there danger down there? I thought there were no life forms on this planet."

"There do not appear to be any life forms on this planet but precaution must be used." He stepped up on the transporter pad and Judy sighed.

"Oh, 'cause I was wondering maybe I could use that to cut into the cave wall and take a sample from there. Or maybe I could use it to heat up the metals and see what happens. It would be easier if we could use phasers for cutting and heating instead of boring old tools. One of the problems with archeology...we never get cool stuff."

Data blinked a bit and Ensign Lerner sighed. "Please forgive her. She's really passionate about her work."

Data smiled a little. "I see. Energize."

* * *

"Data to transporter room three. The actuator's are functioning. I am ready to receive the team."

'Aye, Sir.' The chief responded.

Only five were in the team and they all beamed down together. Judy's eyes lit up when she saw the splendor of the cave. She looked at everyone else and they appeared uncomfortable. She deadpanned when she figured it out.

"You can breathe down here, you guys." The ensigns all let out a breath and Judy rolled her eyes. "C'mon people! Lt. Commander Data invented these. I trust him." She smiled at him and said android smiled back. "Okay, let's get to work!" She clapped her hands and everyone spread out.

All that was being done was just a simple soil sample retrieval. Judy got down on her knees and spread her hands out in the dirt. "Wow...just think. No life forms have ever touched this before without a suit or gloves. This is amazing." She was talking to herself but Data's excellent hearing allowed him to hear her. Again he felt prideful. He continued to scan the area and saw no gaps in the actuator field. All of them were functioning fine and all seemed well.

Little did any of them know that all was not well. A wall began to fluctuate and a form came out of it. It had the same rainbow sheen as the wall and was about a foot in length. It looked like an Earth moray eel. It hissed quietly and looked over the group. It had been years, centuries in fact, since it had seen a biological life form. It was so hungry...

Judy was putting some soil in a tube for further study on the Enterprise when she felt something weird. It was like she was being watched. She looked at Data and he was scanning a wall about ten feet away from her. Neither him or her team seemed like anything was wrong. But she couldn't shake this feeling. She looked up and blinked when she saw this...thing looking back at her. It looked like it was made out of the same materials as the wall. Only a few seconds went by before she realized that this was a bad situation. It hissed at her and before she knew it, it had jumped on her neck. She screamed and everyone turned to see her on her back struggling to get something off her.

Data got to her first and saw some sort of creature attacking Lt. Sculler's neck. He had no time to wonder what the hell this thing was because instinct made him pull it off of her. It made a squealing sound as he squeezed it and it soon died. After it died, it dissolved in an acidic compound and Data threw it to the ground as it did.

Everyone was shocked as they watched this creature die and Data went to Lt. Sculler. She was panting and looked back up at him. He looked closer and two tiny puncture marks were on her neck. "Thank you..." Her voice was weak and at that moment her eyes rolled back into her head. She began to shake and Data scanned her with his tricorder. She was in neural shock. She was dying.

"Do something!" Ensign Lerner cried as she knelled down to her friend.

"Commander!" One of the ensigns shouted. Data looked up and the whole wall was fluctuating into many of these creatures.

"They're coming out of the wall!" Katherine screamed.

"They _are_ the wall..." An ensign responded.

Data grabbed his phaser and began shooting at these creatures. They seemed unaffected, as if he really was shooting the wall. He hit his combadge. "Data to Enterprise! Emergency beam out to sickbay, all members of the team! Now!" The fear was apparent in his voice. Not for himself, but for the team...and Lt. Sculler. The blue beam surrounded all of them and soon they were gone before the creatures could get to them.

When they arrived in sick bay Doctor Crusher ran up to them. "What happened?"

"She was bitten by an unknown life form. She is in neural shock." Data was holding her and Doctor Crusher made him put her on a table. As soon as he did he backed away to watch the doctor try to save this young woman.

She was shouting orders to inject her with solutions and medicines but nothing seemed to be working. The picture seemed to fade as Data thought to himself.

"_I believe the environment is safe, Sir."_

"_I trust him." _

He felt guilt enter his midsection and swallowed the feeling back. Doctor Crusher was feverishly working to save her and soon cortical stimulator's were put on her forehead. Just like Tasha.

"Four hundred." She called as they zapped her again. Nothing. Soon Judy's body stopped moving from the zaps. They weren't even affecting her.

Just like Tasha.

A continuous tone emitted the sound of what all soon realized. Katherine's hands went up to her mouth and tears filled her eyes.

Beverly sighed and shut off the machines. "Time of death, 1400 hours, seven minutes." She looked back at the team standing there in horror and shook her head. "I'm sorry. The poison in her system is like nothing I've ever seen. It just destroyed her from the inside out. There was nothing we could do."

"No!" Katherine sobbed and closed her eyes. Data swallowed again and looked down.

The sick bay doors opened and a dark haired ensign ran in. "What happened? I heard the team was hurt-" He stopped when he saw Lt. Sculler. "Judy! No, what happened?! What are you doing standing around?! Save her! Do something!"

"Ron...she's gone..." Katherine cried as she grabbed his arm. Ron turned to her and tears filled his eyes.

"It was a simple dig! That's what she said! How the hell did this happen?! Who did this to her?! Who was in command?!"

"She was..." She cried some more and he shook his head.

"No, I meant who was in charge of the whole thing? Who made it so she could go down there?" He looked at Data and he couldn't help but meet his eyes.

"I did." He stated.

"You? How?" Ron thought for a moment. "You're Commander Data. Judy went on and on about you and about how you invented these things that could let her go down without a suit. You did this! Those things malfunctioned, didn't they?!"

Data shook his head somberly. "No, they did not. Apparently there were life forms on this planet and in that cave that our sensors could not pick up. One if them attacked her. I am...sorry." There was nothing more he could say at that point.

"You should be. If she had a suit on, maybe she wouldn't have been killed! It's still your fault!"

He had wondered what humans were talking about when they would say things like "It hit me like a ton of bricks", or, "My whole stomach went cold", or, "I felt like I was shot." He now knew what all those sayings meant because he felt them all in that moment.

"Ron, please. Just calm down." Katherine tried to comfort him but he pushed her away.

"You all killed her!" He ran out and Data looked at the table.

There lay once a vibrant and enthusiastic young woman, now cold and lifeless. Her skin was blue and her lips were purple. The two tiny puncture marks were now large welts on her neck, colored deep red and purple. In mere seconds she was doomed. There was no helping her or saving her once that creature had bitten her.

But perhaps Ensign Aburo was right. If she had been wearing a suit those life forms would not have been able to hurt her. Because he invented the actuators she was able to go down there unprotected. But they did not show up on sensor readings or tricorder scans. How could he have known? It was not his fault. But...still...

Captain Picard entered sick bay and looked at the table to Data. He knew.

"What happened?"

Data sighed inaudibly. "There were life forms in the cave that did not show up on scans or sensors. One of them attacked her."

"There was an unidentifiable poison in her system. There was nothing we could do, Captain." Beverly added.

Captain Picard sighed heavily and looked back at Data. "You were down there many times. Why didn't they attack you?"

Data blinked. "Flesh and blood. I believe these life forms only react to biological life forms. That is why it attacked Lt. Sculler."

Picard nodded and looked at Data with understanding.

Nothing that anyone could say at this moment would make him feel better. "I should return to the planet and retrieve the actuators. These life forms can not harm me." He went to leave and Picard stopped him.

"Data..."

"I should go now." He left without another word and Picard looked back at Crusher.

"You should've heard the things that Ensign Aburo said to him, Jean-Luc. He's going to have a hard time with this."

"I know. But that's what you deal with when you're human."

* * *

Even for an android with perfect time, the days seemed to go by painfully slow. He could notice people's stares and hear their whispers. He knew what they were all staring and whispering about. His behavior had changed a bit but nothing too obvious.

He went about his daily routine with no noticeable problem. The difference was that he was quiet, very quiet. Data was a chatterbox and always added extra information when asked a query. Now he did not. He only spoke when directly asked a question or given an order. His answers were short and curt. Some would call his behavior rude. His friends saw it as melancholic.

He would not go to the sociable area's in the ship like he used to. He always would frequent the mess hall or Ten Forward, but not anymore. After his shift he would go directly to his quarters. He would not stop to talk to anyone or even make eye contact.

Deanna Troi was very worried about all of this. She could sense his emotions quite clearly and it was sometimes hard to take. At times she would not feel anything from him and then, out of nowhere, she would feel a surge of guilt and remorse. As if he was going over memories. Humans often would try to get over something, she noticed, and right when they were getting some peace, their brains would relive the thing that was causing them pain. As if their subconscious wanted to punish them.

She felt it on the bridge during a mission where a colony was being placed on Manaka IIII. He was not pushing out any emotion, and then all of a sudden, too much emotion. Almost more than she could take.

He was monitoring the situation from OPS and his brain relived a piece of memory.

"_Thank you..."_

She thanked him. For what? Killing her? Perhaps if she knew that she was going to die she wouldn't have thanked him. Perhaps if she knew that he was putting her in danger she wouldn't have been so excited to be meet him. The guilt was eating him inside. He had considered turning off his emotion chip.

Ever since Doctor Crusher had fixed the fact that it was fused to his neural net, he was able to remove and deactivate it whenever he wanted. But if he did that what kind of human would that make him? A coward, that's what. He decided that he would only turn it off in emergency situations. And he would remove it during missions that he would not need it for, in case he would become injured and emotion would only make it worse.

So he would have to deal. He would have to find a way to get past this and move on. But that would not be easy. He so blamed himself. Oh, the guilt. Would it always feel like this? He hoped not. But maybe he deserved to feel this way.

Deanna could feel all of this permeating off of him. She had to stop herself from walking up to him and hugging him in front of everyone. She just sat there, being the good counselor she was, holding back how she felt about it.

The shift was over and good night's were said. Data did not take an extra shift as he usually did and got up to leave.

"Data-" Deanna tried to talk to him but he briskly passed her by and into the turbolift. He was looking at the floor as the doors closed. She looked at Will and he had a sympathetic look on his face. He too, was worried.

"Maybe you should go talk to him."

Deanna looked down. "I can't make him listen to me, but I'll try to help."

He was walking as fast as he could, without running, to his quarters. He heard a familiar voice and turned around when he heard it.

He was staring at him with unbridled hatred. Data knew this was coming and was surprised it had not sooner.

"What are you so damn sad about? Huh? She wasn't the love of _your _life." Data said nothing as Ensign Aburo came closer to him.

"Did you know what I had planned that night? Hmm? I was gonna propose to her. I was gonna ask her to marry me. I have loved her since I was a child and now she's gone. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Data remained silent and Ensign Aburo came even closer.

"Why'd you have to take her down there? Why'd you have to make her feel safe with those damn things? She wasn't in a suit and that thing _bit_ her. Injected _poison_ _**in**_ her. Why couldn't it have attacked you instead? Oh, that's right. It wanted _flesh and __**blood**_!" He was inches away from him and Data felt himself walking backwards to get away from him.

"It's all your fucking fault! You did this to her! You couldn't have scanned the area? You couldn't have seen these things?!"

"They did not-" He began but was cut off.

"Bullshit! You could have calibrated a tricorder, done something to pick them up! You're a machine! You're supposed to be smart! Why didn't you use that crap to make sure it was safe down there?!"

Procedure did not call for something like that. The creatures did not show up on scans or Enterprise sensor readings. What more could he have done? There were countless situations where the crew had encountered something that could not be picked up by scans or sensors. In fact, if he hadn't had those waking nightmares and stabbed Counselor Troi, the crew would be dead from inter-phasic creatures eating their cellular peptides.

He shook his head and backed up some more. His back had hit the wall and he had nowhere to go. By now crew members had lined up and were watching in stunned curiosity. Almost like teenagers in the twenty first century watching a high school fight.

"You did this! You killed her! It's all your fault!" He was mere centimeters away and that's when the dam broke.

Everything he had felt burst out in one second. His arms went up and connected with Ensign Aburo's chest. He pushed forward and he was projected across the hall into the other wall. The on-lookers gasped in fear and all stepped back. The android stepped forward while Ensign Aburo caught the breath that had been knocked out of him.

"Stop it!" Data yelled uncharacteristically. "It was not my fault! I did not kill her!"

At this moment Deanna ran in and gasped at the sight. There was a noticeable dent in the panel on the wall that Ensign Aburo was against. It wasn't hard to figure out that Data had done something. Also the emotions coming of of him were extreme pain and anger.

"Data, what happened?" She ran up to him and he looked away in shame.

"He attacked me, that's what! They all saw it!" Ron pointed to all the on-lookers.

"I'm sure he didn't _attack_ you." Deanna reassured.

"He pushed him into the wall." A lieutenant said.

"See?" Ron pointed at the officer and Deanna sighed. She looked at Data with worry.

"Data. Data, look at me. Please." He finally made eye contact with her and she saw gold liquid threatening to escape his eyes. He blinked it away and looked back at Ensign Aburo.

"If you ever approach an officer with that tone and attitude again, I will have your rank. Is that understood?" Data appeared cold and unemotional but Deanna could sense the anger.

"It's your rank on the line. Don't think I won't tell the Captain what a dangerous _machine_ he has on board his ship."

Now Deanna was angry. She walked up to Ensign Aburo and glared at him with her black eyes.

"Go to your quarters. You are relived of duty."

Ron scoffed. "You can't do that-"

"I have the rank of Commander and am ship's counselor. I can, and I have. Go to your quarters."

Ron glared at both of them and nodded his head. "The Captain _will_ hear about this." He walked away and Deanna looked back at Data.

"He should. My behavior was inexcusable. I should go to my quarters as well."

"Data. Wait!" She followed him to his quarters, which were not far away from where they were. She figured that Aburo had been waiting for him. They got up to the door and it opened for him.

"Data, please just talk to me. I want to help you."

"I do not believe that contact with anyone would be prudent for me at this time. I wish to be alone." He entered and the doors closed and locked. She had the ability to override but she had another idea.

There was someone else that could help him.

* * *

"I'm extremely worried, Captain. He actually, physically touched him in a violent way. I don't think Data would ever hurt anyone on purpose but perhaps his emotions are clouding his judgment."

Captain Picard took a sip of his earl gray. He sat it down and thought for a moment. He nodded and looked back up Troi. "Everyone has moments in their lives in which they wish they could take something back. I have helped him before with guilt and remorse, but I think this might be too much for him. To be blamed for an accidental death..." He said as he shook his head.

"That's what I'm saying, Captain. What should we do?"

Picard sighed and swiveled in his chair. "We should do whatever we can to help him. He's a trusted officer on this ship and his reputation is on the line. He's also our friend." Deanna nodded and they both walked out.

Staring at the blank console he could see his own refection. Perhaps he was going about this in the wrong way. He needed to look at this with a fresh perspective and clear head. This was an emergency situation. It certainly seemed that way. After all, he did physically push that Ensign. That was unacceptable. This was the right thing to do.

With a beep, he deactivated his emotion chip.

In a millisecond he was back to his old self. He looked around his quarters and things that were beginning to hold meaning to him were now just objects that he recognized. The guilt and pain were gone and replaced by his knowledge and patience. It was just like it used to be. His emotion chip had been running continuously for thirteen months, six days, two hours, twenty two minutes, and seventeen seconds. This was the first time he had shut it off. Was this cowardly? He wouldn't know now that he didn't feel anything.

As they approached the door Deanna stopped. "What's wrong?" Picard asked.

"I was feeling emotion from him up to now. It's all gone. I don't feel anything." They shared a look and Picard pressed the button to ring Data's quarters.

"Enter." His calm voice responded.

They both entered and Data quirked his eyebrows up at them. "Counselor, Captain. I expect you wish to talk to me about the incident with Ensign Aburo?"

They looked at each other and back at Data.

"Data...?" Deanna began to ask and Data knew what she wanted to know.

"I have deactivated my emotion chip." He stated.

The Captain nodded and looked at Troi. "Deanna, could I have a moment with him alone?" She blinked a bit and nodded. She walked out and the doors closed.

Picard walked up to Data's console and sighed. "Ensign Aburo said he would report this to you. Am I to understand that he has?"

"No, he hasn't reported anything to me." Picard sat down at another chair and Data thought for a moment.

"Hmm. Then he most likely will later." Picard said nothing as he looked at his friend.

"Data, why did you deactivate your emotion chip?"

"I was concerned about my recent behavior." He stated.

"Are you afraid that you'd hurt someone, or that you can't control your feelings?"

Data tilted his head. "No. I know that my actions were not acceptable in any way, but I needed to think about this situation without emotion getting in the way."

Picard inhaled deeply. "What do you mean?"

"Was I really responsible for Lt. Sculler's death?"

Picard sighed that big inhale and got up. He walked up to the seat Data was in and laced his hands together. "Let's go over it. The Enterprise didn't detect anything on the planet?"

Data nodded. "Correct."

"And they didn't show up on tricorder scans?"

Data nodded again. "Correct."

"Would there have been a way to get those things to pick up these creatures?" Picard watched as the android thought about it. His eyes moved back and forth as he considered all the possible options.

"I do not believe so, Sir." He finally stated.

"Could any officer have come to the same conclusion that you did?" Data blinked and adjusted himself in his chair.

"It would seem that way." He tilted his head up to meet the Captain's gaze and raised his eyebrows. "If the answer is so simple, then why was I blaming myself?" He asked.

Picard unlaced his hands and leaned back into the console. "Emotions have a funny way of making you feel things that you shouldn't. Guilt and blame are powerful feelings and often make humans judge themselves."

Data blinked and nodded his head. "To use a Vulcan vernacular, it does not seem logical to blame oneself about something that anyone could have done."

"Feelings are hardly ever logical, Data." Picard said with a smile. Data looked back up at him and Picard leaned off the console. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I can say that I do not like feeling that way."

"Running from your feelings won't help you either. You could activate that chip twenty years from now and you would still feel the same way. Trust me."

"Then it would be prudent to 'deal' with my feelings now rather than later." They both nodded and Data looked away as a beep signaled that his chip was back on. His face remained as it was with a hint of discomfort. His eyes traveled down as he slunked slightly in his chair.

Deanna could feel the emotional awareness come from Data's room and sighed.

"Are you alright?" Picard asked.

"Not really. But I suppose, with time, I will be." Data answered. Picard patted his friend's shoulder and walked to leave.

He looked back and smiled. "Ensign Aburo did come to me." Data looked up. "He requested a transfer. He never said anything about you. He'll be leaving in a week to Starbase 115." Data thought for a few seconds.

"Captain. Is it wrong to feel..." He paused. "...relieved that I will not have to see him again?"

Picard shook his head. "No, Data. It isn't." He walked out and met Deanna.

"Well?" She asked eagerly.

"He'll be alright with time." He smiled at her and she sighed. The guilt was gone but she could still feel his sadness. They walked away to leave him be.

Data sat in silence. The pain wasn't as bad but it was still there. A rustle brought him from his thoughts and he noticed a mound of orange fur on his console.

He looked at his feline friend staring back at him and gave a sad smile.

"Hello, Spot."

~End


End file.
